Markets steady after worst day for US stocks since June 2020

Hong Kong/London (CNN Business)Markets steadied early Wednesday after US stocks logged their worst day since June 2020, plunging on news that inflation in August washigher than expected.

Shares in Europe were mixed. Germany's DAX (DAX) dropped 0.2% in early trading, while France's CAC 40 (CAC40) was flat. The FTSE 100(UKX)in London was 0.7% lower, while Italy's benchmark index rose 0.7%.US stock futures were slightly higher.

"Equity futures suggest that the rout stops here," Robert Carnell, regional head of Asia-Pacific research at ING, wrote in a report Wednesday.

US stocks tanked on Tuesday, logging their worst day since June 11, 2020, after August inflation data surprised investors. The US Consumer Price Index, which covers key goods and services, rose 0.1% from July, versus economists' projections of a 0.1% drop.

Annual inflation eased for the second straight month but also remained stubbornly high, with prices up 8.3% year-on-year.The annual rate of inflation in the United Kingdom also dipped in August to 9.9% thanks to falling gasoline prices, but rose by 0.5% on the previous month. And stripping out energy and food costs, annual UK CPI edged up to 6.3%.—Nicole Goodkind, Alicia Wallace and Laura He contributed to this report.